Hamilton keeps faith after Sepang mess sets him back

Lewis Hamilton spoke of a “higher power” at work in the race for the Formula One world championship after another engine failure severely dented his title hopes.
“My question is to Mercedes. We have so many engines made for drivers, but mine are the only ones failing,” a frustrated world champion said after the Malaysian Grand Prix left him 23 points behind teammate Nico Rosberg in the drivers’ championship.
With just five races remaining the Briton may well need some divine intervention if he is to win a third straight world title and a fourth overall.
“I still have faith and hope. That’s a powerful thing. It feels a little bit like the man above, or a higher power, is intervening a little bit,” he said.
A dejected Hamilton will have to pick himself up quickly, with the first of those races next weekend in Japan - and Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff is convinced he will.
“The championship is not over,” he said. “Lewis had a massive blow; that’s clear. But let them battle it out hopefully without any reliability woes and see how it plays out.”
Hamilton was on his way to a comfortable victory in Sepang when his engine blew with 15 laps remaining.
It allowed Daniel Ricciardo to take the chequered flag in a Red Bull one-two ahead of Max Verstappen.
Rosberg recovered from being shunted by fellow German Sebastian Vettel on the first turn to finish third.
The Ferrari driver has been handed a three-place grid penalty in Japan for causing the accident.
After a fourth race compromised by technical issues this season,
Hamilton was initially angry but later more philosophical about his fate.
“While the struggle is real right now and has been this year, I honestly feel it is constantly a test of will, of my spirit and who I am as a person to get back in and keep fighting it head on. It’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up,” he said.
He added: “I will continue to fight but if at the end of the year the higher power does not want me to be champion with everything I have given towards it, I have to accept that.”
Rosberg was meanwhile surprised to be on the podium after the first-turn shunt and was sympathetic to his team-mate’s plight.
“It feels horrible and I’m sure he will come back strong, he is a fighter,” Rosberg said.
“But that brings me back to the approach of just taking things on a race-by-race basis. You just never know what’s going to happen next. I’m not going to start thinking any differently.”
Ricciardo celebrated his first victory since Spa 2014 by drinking champagne out of his shoe at the victory ceremony.
He dedicated the win to Jules Bianchi who died following an accident at Suzuka later that year.
“It’s been just over two years since my last victory, and it feels like a long two years - a lot has happened,” the Australian said.
“It was definitely a life-changing moment, the loss of Jules, a competitor and a friend. That was hard to take. I would have loved to have won sooner, and dedicated this a bit sooner.”